On May 31, Jack’s* father woke up at nine in the morning as usual and headed to feed his family’s pet birds. With his parakeet perched on his shoulder, he proceeded to check the mailbox. Moments later, two unmarked police vehicles surrounded him on both sides.
At the time, Jack and his family were legally residing in the U.S. Just two days before the arrest, they had gone through an interview for their asylum request. The family of five is in the process of filing for asylum for Jack, his older sister and his two parents. His youngest sibling is a U.S. citizen.
“My dad wasn’t surprised or scared, as he’s had multiple interactions with the police in our area, most of the time inquiring about ongoing crimes [unrelated to his case],” Jack said. “They [were] questioning him about another one of those potential crimes, which is when they asked him to confirm his name and proceeded to place him under arrest.”
The officers refused to show a warrant, provide an explanation or give Jack’s father an opportunity to speak. Jack felt the officers worsened the already tense situation by disturbing his other family members.
“[My mom] was still sleeping at home, as was I, so they came and started to bang on the door to wake us up,” Jack said.
Jack’s family is just one of millions in the U.S. that have been impacted by the Trump administration’s new immigration policies. Since these policies were implemented seven months ago, there have been thousands of arrests and deportations of suspected undocumented immigrants.
Within Trump’s first 100 days in office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported having arrested 66,463 undocumented immigrants and deported 65,682. Immigrants are permitted to remain in the U.S. if they are eligible for asylum, meaning the family’s residence was entirely legal. Jack’s father was employed and his family owned U.S. property.
The Trump administration made a number of changes to the country’s immigration policies, including increasing the budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), establishing daily arrest quotas for ICE, reinstating ICE raids and approving the expansion of family detentions.
“We never imagined something like this could happen to us, especially while everything was still being processed through legal channels,” Jack said.
The unexpected detainment of Jack’s father threw his family into unprecedented conditions. His father was detained in Farmville Detention Center, only able to contact the family through phone calls. With his father gone, Jack took it upon himself to help support the family.
“My mom is doing everything she can to keep things together, [and] I work full-time dedicating myself to helping my family get through this,” Jack said. “Ever since my dad was taken, I’ve had to step up in a lot of ways—from working to handling legal communications. We’re all just trying to keep going while holding onto hope.”
Jack felt the absence of his father most during graduation. Graduating high school marked a transition to his next phase of life—a moment his father wasn’t able to witness.
“One of the hardest moments for me was graduating high school without my dad there,” Jack said. “That was supposed to be a proud day for all of us. Instead, his absence made it incredibly painful.”
Jack’s family worked with their immigration attorney to gather paperwork, write letters and search for any other resources that could assist in their case. On the morning of June 16, the family attended an online hearing where Jack’s father was finally released on bond.
“[The opposing counsel] was given extra time to locate necessary documents proving our stay here is illegal, but those documents don’t exist,” Jack said.
The DHS, which is in charge of handling and enforcing Jack’s family’s case, has postponed the case hearing to Oct. 30 in light of these developments.
“I don’t really get time to process what I’m feeling because there’s always something that needs to be done,” Jack said. “But underneath it all, I feel a mix of sadness, pressure and determination. I’m doing everything I can to keep my family stable, even when it feels overwhelming.”
*The name Jack is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of a former McLean student whose family’s residency is being challenged.
